Closed Circuit Television

HC Deb 30 October 1996 vol 284 c141W

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is (i) the purchase cost of a closed circuit television camera, (ii) the annual cost of running it in a fully monitored system and (iii) the average amount his Department is providing in grant per camera in the current year. [143]

Mr. MacLean

The Government do not collect systematic data on the costs of closed circuit television systems or hardware. The purchase cost of CCTV cameras varies widely according to their specification and their operational requirements. Running costs also vary widely for the same reason. Most of the costs associated with CCTV systems are taken up by cabling and monitoring arrangements.

The last CCTV challenge competition disbursed £17,138,047 to 259 winning partnerships. If all the schemes go ahead as planned, this will help to fund 3,277 cameras. The total cost of all the schemes is £40,156,993. Using these figures, the cost per camera is £12,254, to which the Government have contributed £5,230 per camera.